diff --git a/cluster/aws/util.sh b/cluster/aws/util.sh
index 7529b21445d..e646ce934c9 100755
--- a/cluster/aws/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/aws/util.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/aws/${KUBE_CONFIG_FILE-"config-default.sh"}"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/common.sh"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/lib/util.sh"
 
+if [[ -z "${KUBE_AWS_DEPRECATION_WARNED:-}" ]]; then
+  echo -e "${color_red}WARNING${color_norm}: The bash deployment for AWS is deprecated and will be removed in v1.7." >&2
+  echo "For a list of viable alternatives, see:" >&2
+  echo >&2
+  echo "  http://kubernetes.io/docs/getting-started-guides/aws/" >&2
+  echo >&2
+  export KUBE_AWS_DEPRECATION_WARNED=yes
+fi
+
 ALLOCATE_NODE_CIDRS=true
 
 NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX="${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion"